By Elizabeth R. Auma K, Trade Policy Leader/Bridging Policy, People & Purpose/ Founder, Hearts&Trade

Social media is increasingly filled with stories of people battering others to death. In moments of rage, they throw stones and use sticks as though their lives depend on it. Soon after, the debate begins. Many argue that poverty is pushing people to commit unimaginable acts of violence and injustice.

But I often find myself asking a different question. Is it really poverty? Don’t the rich commit terrible acts as well? From my observation, the difference may not lie so much in the act itself as in the motivation behind it. Those who are wealthy may commit harmful acts from a place of greed, revenge, power, or competition. Those who are poor may act from a place of anger, frustration, hopelessness, or desperation. Yet the outcome remains the same, another father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or sister is harmed.

Proverbs 30:8-9 contains a prayer that has always fascinated me. The wise teacher asks God not to make him too poor lest he dishonour Him, and not too rich lest he forget Him. It is a prayer for sufficiency, balance, and dependence on God.

In many ways, trade policy attempts to answer a similar question in society. It seeks to create opportunities, reduce exclusion, and build paths for shared prosperity. Yet experience teaches us that even when opportunities are created, not everyone takes them. Some wait for a silver platter. Others begin to view another person’s success as their own opportunity for gain.

So, what is the real problem?

When a man picks up a brick and kills another helpless man who has done nothing to him, believing he is delivering justice because the victim was suspected of stealing, one is forced to pause and ask: Does he not see that the act he is committing is equally terrible? What moral line has been crossed that allows one evil to be justified by another?

At that point, the discussion moves beyond economics. Poverty may create vulnerability. Anger may fuel negative action. Frustration may cloud judgment. But there seems to be something deeper at work; a breakdown in values, restraint, empathy, and the recognition of the dignity of human life. Policy alone cannot manufacture character, compassion, or integrity. These are formed elsewhere in families, communities, faith, and values.

History itself challenges the argument that violence and injustice are purely products of poverty. Men and women in the 1800s, the 1900s, and even today have committed terrible acts under different economic circumstances. Human cruelty is not a new phenomenon.

As a Bible-believing Christian, my mind goes back to the first murder recorded in Scripture. After Adam and Eve sinned, Cain killed his brother Abel. It was neither poverty nor wealth that drove him to do so. It was anger that brewed jealousy. What makes the story particularly striking is that both brothers were productive. Both worked and brought offerings to God from the labour of their hands. Yet one allowed jealousy and resentment to take root in his heart until it produced violence.

This does not mean poverty is irrelevant. Poverty can fuel frustration, desperation, and social tension. Trade policy and economic development therefore remain important because they create opportunities and improve livelihoods. However, poverty alone cannot explain why human beings harm one another.

The deeper question is the condition of the human heart. As a Christian, I have come to believe that while policy can create opportunity and institutions create order, lasting transformation begins when hearts are renewed. When a heart is surrendered to Christ, sanctified, and continually renewed, values begin to align with dignity, and respect for others.

Perhaps that is why societies need both economic transformation and moral transformation. One addresses the conditions in which people live; the other addresses the condition of the heart. Policy can improve conditions, but transformed hearts determine what people do with those conditions.